Strange Adventures #1

Vertigo's Strange Adventures launches in November 1999 as an anthology miniseries, and this Brian Bolland-illustrated cover makes the promise of variety immediately clear — three snapshot-style panels tease stories of "Exotic Rituals!" (showing a bound figure trapped in a wooden cage), "Weird Science!" (a startled scientist recoiling before a ringed planet apparition), and "Killer Viruses!" (a grim-faced man surrounded by visibly afflicted figures in a crowd). Each vignette is credited to a different creative team on the cover itself, with Bolland, Dave Gibbons, and Robert Rodi & Frank Quitely all contributing to this first of four issues. If you've ever wanted a single comic that swings from ritual dread to cosmic unease to biological horror, this opener sets the table with confident, pulpy flair.